Stealing Spree

Before moving on to another topic like we agreed, I brought up something from the past. About that one time, during my date with Himeko, when she asked me to hold her hand on the bus.

From how unusual it was, I suspected that she already liked me back then. But given her attitude after it, I could be wrong.

And so, I put her on the spot to clear that up… Surprisingly, she didn’t brush it away and properly answered me. Compared to her bashful look earlier, Itou put on a neutral expression as though narrating something she deemed insignificant.

Or so that was my first impression. Halfway through her answer, guilt crept up on her face. Furthermore, she grimaced from remembering it. “No. I don’t like you yet at that time. When I asked you to hold my hand, it was part of my plan to make Nee-sama see you in a bad light. I believed that showing her that her man was holding her sister’s hand would put on a crack on your relationship… ”

“That’s not what happened though?” I said as I pressed closely. I could still remember that day, of course. Instead of doing that, she confessed and took responsibility for it.

“Yes. Because I changed my mind. You…” Her voice trailed at this point. Along with the guilt visible on her face, her voice became laced with shame before continuing, “… fearlessly went to protect us from that one guy who tried approaching us.”

Right. That also happened, huh? I still have the business card of the other guy who tried offering me to become a host in their club.

But if I recall correctly, that one happened before she asked for my hand… That didn’t fit with her explanation…

Well, there’s the possibility that she changed her mind halfway. After feeling guilty.

“I see. You decided not to ruin our date in the end.” I said, deciding not to press on it anymore.

“Y-yes… I still did ruin it, however. I interrupted you two in that...”

Without finishing her sentence and just letting her cheeks take on a rosy red color, I instantly understood what she was talking about… The bathroom situation where she interrupted us right after Himeko sat down on me…

“Well, don’t mind it. Himeko and I still got our chance to finish what we started that day.”

That girl waited on me after that weekend in front of the School Building where we spent the morning inside the hidden room…

Upon hearing that, Himeko looked like she wanted me to elaborate on that. However, I let the topic rest.

A few minutes later, as if our earlier conversation didn’t happen, the two of us swiftly switched topics to the reason why we were here in this room.

Yes, she confessed and what I said could also be counted as a confession. However, that doesn't mean we’re already in a relationship. There’s a lot more to talk about with her and we’re both aware that this moment wasn’t the best time. Maybe if we got another chance, preferably alone together, I’d be able to fish out more of the feelings she kept on bottling up. Make her more honest with me. The same way how Izumi-senpai gradually opened up to me.

Before starting, Itou guiltily confessed that the reason she hadn’t begun filling in the gaps in Misaki’s lack of mundane knowledge was that she was afraid to influence her negatively. As to what she meant by that… she silently admitted that like Misaki, she didn’t want to claim to be a master in how a normal high school girl will behave.

She’s being trained to be the head of their family, after all. Her head was filled with rich people’s etiquette. Although she could act like a normal girl whenever she’s playing games to unwind herself, she claimed that it’s not normal…

And so, instead of teaching her, Itou kept Misaki close to her. To protect her from those who would try to take advantage of her innocence.

“I did all that but I failed to predict that she would be this attached to you… Really, you’re like a menace that girls like us cannot avoid.” Itou facepalmed as she lamented at how she failed to protect Misaki from being entangled with me.

Well, in this case, I could attribute that to coincidence. It just so happened that I affected her positively during that ‘Catch that Flag’ activity of Eguchi-sensei.

But it’s not like I’m the only one she befriended that day. There’s also Chii and Kanzaki.

Now that reminds me… Although Chii would sometimes talk about her run-ins with Misaki and her adorable innocence, I had no news about Kanzaki’s dealings with her. Is she still her friend or not?

Best to bring it up later then…

“You can avoid me, you know? You just chose not to… Anyway, I’ll let you talk to her first. I’ll be listening on the side and fill in if you missed something.”

Itou’s reaction to the first part was kinda adorable. She covered her blushing face and muttered in a silent voice ‘It’s too late to say that.’. And after recovering from it by forcing a fake cough, she nodded as though nothing happened.

Ten minutes later, the two of us stood up and went to Misaki.

After waiting for a long time, the forehead girl’s excitement upon seeing us finishing our discussion was apparent. With bright, shining eyes, she waited patiently while stretching her hand to me, guiding me to the seat next to her.

Well, since I spent all that time with Itou, I didn’t reject it. And to make up for the time I made her wait, I once again rubbed her head, doting on her affectionately.

Misaki liked that a lot, making the smallest hint of discontent disappear instantly.

Upon seeing that, Itou who sat down on the chair in front of us, wryly smiled and sneakily glared at me when her friend wasn’t looking. Now, that’s a glare of jealousy rather than her normal hateful glare.

She’s most likely thinking that I didn’t treat her the same as how I treat Misaki.

I blatantly ignored that and urged her to start…

And so, for the next half an hour became a simple life lesson for the innocent forehead girl. From listening to every piece of knowledge that Misaki somehow had no idea about, I couldn’t help but be amazed at how she could still live in this modern society. The girl’s knowledge was so outdated that even an elderly who lived in the previous era would be more knowledgeable than her.

“Misaki, is there a reason why your parents sheltered you this much and did not educate you about everything we just told you?”

Once Itou exhausted everything she could impart to the girl, she passed the baton to me.

Starting it with a question, Misaki, who was enthusiastically digesting everything she learned, paused for a moment. She then looked up at me and tilted her head in a bout of confusion, “Reason? Uhm… I don’t think there is one. Mother and Father said it’s best for me to remain pure until I come of age… They’re even opposed to sending me to study here… Grandpa and Grandma are the ones who arranged to send me here, opposing their decisions…”

Remain pure until she comes of age? What are they? Still living in an old era? Or is it some kind of cult or unorthodox religion shenanigans that we often read and watch on some documentaries?

I raised a simple question to enlighten me but it brought up more questions about this girl’s home. By educating her like this, did we just violate the kind of upbringing they enforced on her?